Pages of Interest

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Conversation with Best-selling author SOMAN CHAINANA

What types of challenges wait for
Sophie and Agatha in Book 2?

Without giving away any spoilers, I want Sophie and Agatha to face themes
in each book that we tend to think about in black-and-white terms. In Book 1,
they face Good and Evil, and reveal the immense shades of gray between those
two words. In Book 2, they do the same to Boys and Girls. And if it sounds like
I'm going to get in a lot of trouble for it, well… Mischief is my favorite
pastime.

In
terms of their character growth, I think readers of Book 1 have asked me all
the right questions: What is Agatha thinking, knowing what she gave up? And
what is Sophie thinking, knowing her own crimes? The delicious part of Book 2
is that neither girl can really share their answers with the other, without
opening up old wounds.

If you had to live in a classic
fairytale world (from books or movies), which would you choose?

I'm
going to cheat and choose a world that isn't technically fantasy at all. One of
my favorite books is From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,
by EL Konigsburg. In the book, two children run away and take up secret
residence in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I couldn't think of a place more
stirring and fun, because as a child, you're often kept behind ropes at a
museum and berated with reminders: NO TOUCHING, NO RUNNING, NO EATING, NO
COUGHING, TALKING, SNEEZING, OR HAVING ANY FUN AT ALL. As you can tell from the
world of SGE, I'm not a big fan of… rules. To get to just roam free in
the Met and play seems like the greatest fantasy possible.

Why do you think these books have
found such a strong international audience? Have you gotten to engage with any
international fans? Any memorable fan reactions?

If
it was up to me, I'd spend every day of the year traveling to see readers
around the world. The support for THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL has been
staggering -- and my favorite thing to do in the morning is check the Good and
Evil scoreboard on the homepage of www.schoolforgoodandevil.com. Each day, the five highest Good and Evil
soul scores from the "Are You Good or Evil" online school entrance
exam are posted on the site, along with the city and country the reader is
from. Without fail, it's a smorgasbord of users from around the world. I'm
looking at it right now: Idaho, Los Angeles, Dubai, London, Canberra, Pakistan,
Brazil…

I'm
at a loss to explain it, except for the fact that the kids seem to love the
idea that in the SGE world, they can be truly themselves. You don't have to be
perfect. You don't always have to do the right thing. You can just be 'human'
and won't be subjected to an unrealistic moral at the end of the story.

As
for engaging with international fans, I answer every letter I get from around
the world, post every piece of fan art we receive, and occasionally Skype with
classrooms in different countries. And for Book 2, I'll be on tour this spring
and summer to Canada, England, and no doubt more countries to come. The
book will also start being translated into a ton of different languages over
the next year.

How have
the characters evolved?

For a while, I know there’s been a fair bit of debate online
over whether Agatha and Sophie would even be in the sequel. After all, the end
of book 1 should have been their happy ending. But questions remain: What is
Agatha thinking, knowing what she gave up? And what is Sophie thinking, knowing
what she’s done? The delicious part of Book 2 is that neither girl can really
share their answers with the other without opening up old wounds.

What do you
do when you get writers block?

I don't really get writer's block, honestly, because there's
always a way around a problem. But usually writer's block means you're coming
at a problem from the wrong direction or you have a faulty assumption. Taking a
day off or a long yoga class inevitably solves it without too much stress.

What advice
can you give to young budding writers?

Read your work out loud to an average teenager. If they fidget
after the first paragraph or look bored, then you need to keep working on that
opening until they ask “What happens next?”. Character, story, theme… that all
comes later. First you need the voice that feels authentic, that draws people
in.

Which countries would you travel to if
you could go anywhere in the world?

I'd love to go to Argentina, Greece, the Czech
Republic, New Zealand, and Sweden… We're working on the School for Good and
Evil movie script at the moment, and I'm tempted to
artificially include random locations, if only to ensure I get to see them. I
always say I'm going to travel more -- but always end up where I should be,
perhaps. In my comfy white reclining chair in New York, writing more big
adventures for Sophie and Agatha.

Reviews:

“Soman Chainani's whip-smart debut,
guaranteed to make any little girl think twice about wanting to be a princess.
If I could bewitch you all to read it, I would. Grade: A.”

– Entertainment Weekly

“A funny, frightening and fully satisfying novel that
explores the meaning of true love and the vast gray area between good and evil.”
– San
Francisco Chronicle

“This marvelous fantasy reinvents the fairy tale and
explores the mythic power of fairy tale images, heroism and gender roles, while
offering marvelous entertainment at the same time.”

– Buffalo News

“A droll fairy tale of sorts with appeal for all ages…quite
funny and already optioned by Joe Roth, the producer of “Oz the Great and
Powerful.” – New York Daily News

“Although many have tried, no writer has quite been able to
reach the ‘top rung’ on the ladder when it comes to the ‘best’ in tween fantasy
(top spot being held by Harry Potter)…until now. This is a
fairytale/adventure/thriller/fantasy with humor and characters readers will
never forget, and everyone from tweens to adults will want to walk in
this world.” –Authorlink.com

“THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL is a fun and exciting
read, incorporating elements of beloved fairy tales and putting a modern twist
on others.” – Teenreads.com

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